Billboards vs content creators – the new frontier in election marketing

Looking at a Clive Palmer Trumpet of Patriots billboard is a lot like staring directly into the sun. You think you can manage it, but five seconds later, your eyes are burning and you’re wondering why you just did something stupid.

If you’ve driven along Vulture Street towards the Gabba recently, you might know the Trumpet of Patriots billboard I’m referring to. Obscene amount of text, a gaudy double thumbs-up from Palmer, racist undertones. If it were satire – someone parodying a politician rather than earnestly trying to be a politician – it would be funny.

Surprisingly, this eyesore is not alone in the wilderness of strange political advertisements spotted around Brisbane lately. On the other side of the Gabba is a billboard from conservative political lobby group Advance Australia depicting a concerned mother shielding her child from an onslaught of pills and syringes, with a warning that “the Greens plan to decriminalise all drugs”.

Some might question the common sense that went into the creation of this busy billboard.Credit: Courtney Kruk

Like Palmer, I don’t think Advance Australia intended to make a funny advertisement, but it’s so blunt in its creative treatment that I’m unsure it can’t be received any other way. Same goes for their billboards that state: “Can’t vote Greens. Not this time”, or a newly sighted billboard attacking the Greens over girls’ sport.

I’m not the target market for this form of political marketing, and while I question who exactly is, the fact that millions are spent on billboards means these in-your-face tactics still have currency with some demographics.

On the flip side, Gen Z and Millennials are set to outnumber Baby Boomers at the ballot box this election, and politicians are strategising in a way that indicates they know it.

Abbie Chatfield and Greens leader Adam Bandt target a generation glued to a much smaller screen. Credit: @abbiechatfield & @australiangreens

This is most acutely seen in the way some leaders are leveraging influencers, podcasters and content creators to market their brand and policies.

Abbie Chatfield is an obvious example. Chatfield, who lives in Sydney but grew up in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, has more than half a million Instagram followers and a profile that cuts across an enviable intersection of voters.

She interviewed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in February and has since chatted with Greens leader Adam Bandt and independent senator Jacqui Lambie. On Thursday night, she’ll be back in her home town to host “Vote 2.0”, a Greens event featuring a DJ set from Bandt at The Brightside in Fortitude Valley.

Even closer to home, Brisbane digital creator Zac Williams AKA @yeahnah_notbad posted a slightly left-field sit down with Greens MP Stephen Bates at the start of the week.

Williams isn’t exactly renowned for his political expertise – he makes light, accessible content based on his enthusiasm for Brisbane’s local food scene. But then that’s precisely the engaged audience Bates would be smart to get in front of.

Williams said it was actually he and his wife who reached out to Bates’ team to organise the chat.

“I think Stephen is an excellent guy and I love what he and the Greens stand for (it all aligns with my values and beliefs), and I just wanted to help get the word out there,” he explains.

“I seem to have made this little corner of the internet that people like, and people like to listen to what I chat about (which still surprises me), so I thought if I can help that way, I will.

“That’s it really, no fancy motives or anything like that, he’s just a cool guy and I wanted to get to know him a little bit better.”

It’s easy to read a politician teaming up with a content creator or progressive media personality as a marketing ploy, but research fellow at the Australian National University’s School of Politics and International Relations Dr Pandanus Petter says it can be authentically motivated.

“There are two ways to look at it, and I think they’re both true to a certain extent,” Petter explains.

“Politicians want to create as many opportunities to boost their profile, and they want to be appealing when they do that.

“Parties and politicians will use whatever platforms are available to try to reach people. But there are legitimate reasons [to appear on podcasts and collaborate with content creators] too.

“There’s a big problem with people thinking politicians are out of touch, disconnected [and] not like us … so if they can build up trust and get people to watch and listen to them generally, some of their more substantive messages might filter through.”

So, who will win the marketing race, the boomers with their billboards or the kids with their new mediums?

For some, the race is over, no matter the reel or podcast episode to be released. Early voting opened on Tuesday, and hundreds of thousands of minds are already made up. But whatever the outcome, it will be interesting to see how much sway influencers have by putting politicians and policies in front of new audiences. If it’s a lot, imagine what we might see in another four years.

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